Comments for Flight of the Goose

Flight of the Goose: 07/03/08

Flight of the Goose by Lesley Thomas is about a meeting of cultures: the good and the bad. The story is told from two points of view: Kayuqtuq Ugungoraseok (aka Gretchen) and Leif Trygvesen (aka Birdman).

Leif, an ornithologist, goes from being someone to be feared, to being an amusing oddity, to finally a respected member of the community. The process isn't easy for him or for Kayuqtuq who does most of the novel's narration.

Flight of the Goose takes its time. The story unfolds at its own pace and it is one to be read slowly and pondered over. Often times scenes will be played from both characters points of view: first one and the other. Other times both characters will sweep over huge chunks of time that were for one reason or another unimportant to them.

The novel is peppered with a number of Inupiaq words. There is a very useful glossary at the back of the novel. I liked having this resource on hand.

Overall I enjoyed the book. My only complaint is for the font chosen for Leif's diaries. It is a narrow sans-serif that is hard on the eyes compared to lovely font used for Kayuqtuq's parts.